It's Advantageous To Be Creative All The Time
It Keeps You Young
Early on in my tenure as host of As The Story Grows I got the opportunity to interview Doug Venable, Hopesfall’s original vocalist. I was so stoked and had all these questions lined up for Doug and yet the conversation clocked in at around twenty minutes. In the aftermath of that interview, I felt like a failure. And it was not the first time but it was the moment that hit the hardest because up to that point, this was the shortest conversation I had ever had on the podcast. I even considered not airing it because it felt like failure. I ultimately did air the episode and as time went on, interviews would come in under half an hour. At some point after I had interviewed Doug I had an epiphany.
The music interview podcast revolves around long form content. All these hour+ interviews that deep dive into every facet of the guest. This is what I had been listening to leading up to hosting As The Story Grows and a lot of these types of podcasts I still enjoy. But who gets to decide that that is the only format for music interview podcasts? I’ve talked about this in other newsletters but I’ve come to appreciate the shorter format of the podcast. It can allow me to be more focused in interviews on something specific. When a band returns to the show, I know we’re looking at the last year or two and their experience leading up to whatever new release is on the horizon. Plus, I can do more interviews and share more bands because I’m not beating myself up with conversations and edits that are over an hour. And so I get to share 3 episodes a week that are digestible for the listener.
Why bring this up today? This week I interviewed Jay from Guilt Trip and I had pre-made the decision going into the interview that I wanted to focus on the new ep and what was happening with the band right now. And so naturally the interview wasn’t terribly long. After the call I had some doubts about my choice to not do a deep dive into Jay’s history and the background of the band but I’ve come back around.
Sometimes it’s helpful to think of As The Story Grows as an audio magazine but you get one story or interview at a time instead of an issue full of them. And if I was conducting an interview for a magazine, my conversation with Jay was probably a solid article length in duration. You think about actors doing tv hits to promote a movie or new season of their tv show and they’re only on for 5-8 minutes. Even an episode of Hot Ones clocks in under half an hour. And I think the conversation with Jay is really good. And so I stand by my journalistic instinct to focus the podcast the way I did.
This week on the podcast is a lot of fun! Monday we welcomed Eric Peterson, guitarist and founder and legendary thrash metal band Testament! With my conversation with Eric I really wanted to focus on Testament has a band in the 2020’s and how technology and legacy has shifted their approach to music at this point in their career. The conversation was a lot of fun and I’m honored to have had Eric on the show!
On Wednesday, Coliseum and Fotocrime front man Ryan Patterson joined the show. Fotocrime’s new album, Security, is out today and it’s excellent! Ryan and I talk a lot of creativity, stretching yourself and finding love in former projects by embracing new ones.
And today we welcome back to the podcast, David and Mauro from Swiss metalcore band Vicious Rain. Their sophomore album, The Anatomy of Surviving, is also out today on Arising Empire Records! I almost screwed up and didn’t record this episode but caught it pretty early in the conversation. It was great getting to bring back both of these guys to the podcast and breakdown the new record!
Friend of the podcast Jeremy Hunt from QOHELETH and Philip K Discs is releasing the new PKD compilation on a mini boombox. Jeremy has long been one of the most creative people in music, coming up with interesting ideas for releasing music and creating a universe in which his music lives in. Check out the video below and consider supporting something truly unique and special!
Three more podcasts next week! If you become a Patreon supporter at a $1 a month, you get early access to every episode and episodes on Patreon are currently over a week ahead of their release schedule! Have a great weekend!